Dr. Basak Yanar
Dr. Basak Yanar is an associate scientist at the Institute for Work & Health, and an assistant professor in the division of Social and Behavioural Health Sciences in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She holds a PhD in organizational behaviour and human resource management from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Yanar’s research interests include understanding the working conditions and health and safety needs of populations experiencing occupational health and safety vulnerabilities such as immigrant and refugee workers, small businesses, and workers experiencing mental health challenges; and the workplace practices and system supports that make injury prevention and return-to-work more equitable and accessible for these populations. Her emerging program of research explores how employers can better respond to health and safety needs of immigrant and refugee workers and foster inclusive safety practices in workplaces that are becoming increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse.
Yanar is a qualitative researcher with a keen interest in collaboration with community organizations, employers and system partners in developing solutions to improve the health and safety of immigrant workers.
“Thinking about occupational health and safety in Canada, it is impossible not to think of immigrant workers. As Canada continues to rely on immigration for its economic growth, we need to understand how to better promote safety in linguistically and culturally diverse workplaces, and address the vulnerable working conditions immigrants find themselves in, whether they have recently arrived or not.” – Dr. Basak Yanar
Research areas
Projects
- Champions as social agents of change: what can we learn from worker well-being initiatives?. Funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Ongoing.
- Creating safe workplaces for newcomers. Funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- First Responder Mental Health Treatment Services: Formative evaluation of a pilot program. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Ongoing.
- Programs of early OHS intervention with small businesses. Funded by WorkSafeBC. Ongoing.
- Return to work in policing: synthesizing current practices and implementation guidance. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario. Ongoing.
Publications
- Mustard C, Yanar B. Estimating the financial benefits of employers' occupational health and safety expenditures. Safety Science. 2023;159:106008. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2022.106008.
- Yanar B, Nasir K, Massoud A, Usmani S, Premji S, Smith PM. Employers' experiences with safe work integration of recent immigrants and refugees. Safety Science. 2022;155:105856. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105856.
- Kosny A, Yanar B, Begum M, Al-khooly D, Premji S, Lay M, Smith PM. Safe employment integration of recent immigrants and refugees. Journal of International Migration and Integration. 2020;21(3):807-827. doi:10.1007/s12134-019-00685-w.
- Premji S, Kosny A, Yanar B, Begum M. Tool for the meaningful consideration of language barriers in qualitative health research. Qualitative Health Research. 2020;30(2):167-181. doi:10.1177/1049732319856303.
- Yanar B, Robson LS, Tonima S, Amick B. Understanding the organizational performance metric, an occupational health and safety management tool, through workplace case studies. International Journal of Workplace Health Management. 2020;13(2):117-138. doi:10.1108/IJWHM-09-2018-0126.
Speaker Series presentations
- Estimating the financial benefits of OHS spending: a study of Ontario employers . IWH Speaker Series. February 14, 2023.
- Safe work integration of newcomers: Employer perspectives. IWH Speaker Series. October 13, 2020.
- Capacity building and evaluation of OHS training in settlement agencies. IWH Speaker Series. January 28, 2020.
- Safe employment integration of recent immigrants and refugees. IWH Speaker Series. October 31, 2017.
Interviews and articles
- Report urges worker safety while respecting cultural differences. Daily Commercial News. January 18, 2023. Available from: https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/labour/2023/01/report-urges-worker-safety-while-respecting-cultural-differences
- Employers struggle to provide newcomers with OHS training, support: IWH study. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 110, Fall 2022.
- IWH estimates point to positive return on OHS investment in three Ontario sectors. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 109, Summer 2022.
- Study finds positive ROI in workplace safety and health in three key sectors. Safety+Health. June 1, 2022.
- Supporting settlement agencies to raise OHS awareness among newcomers. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 100, Spring 2020.